


A Small Inconvenience

by SwanFloatieKnight



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), Arthur Pendragon Returns (Merlin), Attempt at Humor, Fluff, M/M, Mild Smut, Modern Era, Water
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:41:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23461165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwanFloatieKnight/pseuds/SwanFloatieKnight
Summary: It is the first morning after Arthur has returned. Merlin is beyond happy. That is, until he wakes up. Because it is just his luck that something is bound to go wrong.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 142





	A Small Inconvenience

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IfIWouldDoThat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IfIWouldDoThat/gifts).



> we had no warm water yesterday morning. I had to try and cope with that. xD
> 
> also, my 150th work I posted on Ao3!! Yay!!

A/N: I posted this fic on Ao3, and on Ao3 alone. If you read this on any other website or platform, please consider that I did not consent to this.

* * *

Merlin had suspected it. He had felt a tickling beneath his skin since the morning, that he couldn’t place. Then there had been a sudden gust of wind, like a sudden change in the weather. In this moment Merlin had just _known_ it and his heart had missed a beat because he had known at once that his could only mean one thing: Arthur had returned.

He didn’t even bother to put on a jacket when he left the house, all he could think of was that he wanted to get to the lake, to Arthur, as soon as possible. It was cold and raining, but he didn’t care.

When he reached the lake, the water was rough and lightening was flashing all around him. But there was a body lying on the narrow gravel beach. A body in chain mail and a red cloak.

Merlin didn’t know how he was still able to breathe when he sunk down on his knees next to Arthur. He was soaking wet and shaking from more than just the cold, but he didn’t care. He reached out for the pale face, the wet blond hair, he wanted, he _needed_ to touch him, to know this was real.

And it was.

When his fingers brushed Arthur’s cool cheeks a shudder ran through his body, he gasped for breath and opened his eyes. “Merlin?” he asked, his face all confused but happy at the same time when he recognized his friend. “Where are we?” And then, with even more confusion: “What happened?”

“Too much,” was all Merlin could say before his voice broke. Too much had happened to tell Arthur everything right now. He breathed deeply, tried to calm himself before he put an arm around Arthur’s shoulders. “Come, let’s get you out of that bloody weather.”

They went back slowly, and mostly in silence, but Merlin couldn’t help to hold Arthur’s hand. Their fingers got warmer from the contact and slowly, when Merlin’s breath had calmed, a smile spread across his face that got broader with every step. He glanced over at Arthur and when another bolt of lightening flashed across the sky he saw that the other man was smiling too. Merlin squeezed his hand.

“I’m glad you’re back. I missed you.”

Arthur stopped to look at Merlin. “I missed you too.” He reached out for him with his other hand and carefully pulled him closer.

Merlin didn’t hesitate to throw himself into Arthur’s arms. “Oh, Arthur.” He buried his face in Arthur’s shoulder to hide his tears, but his face was already wet with rain running down his cheeks and dripping from his hair.

The other man stroked his back and kissed his neck. He could still feel Merlin’s suppressed sobs. “It’s okay, Merlin. It’s fine. I’m here now,” he tried to comfort him.

Merlin looked up at him, still smiling. “I know. I’m just so happy, Arthur. I can’t believe it.”

“Me neither. I am glad that I met you again.” Arthur stroked Merlin’s cheek, then their lips met and they stood in the rain, kissing, forgetting about the world around them.

When they finally made it to Merlin’s house it took them mere minutes to get rid of their clothes, even of Arthur’s armour, and drop onto Merlin’s bed, limbs entangled and their lips once again occupied with a heated kiss. They had to catch up on more than a thousand years they had missed, after all.

When Merlin woke the next morning it was still raining. The light dripping into the room was grey and dim and he felt warm and comfortable. He hadn’t felt so warm and so comfortable in a very long time, and he was certain that this feeling was caused by the man who was still asleep right next to him.

Arthur had wrapped his arms around Merlin’s chest and was holding him close. Merlin could feel his warm breath against his neck and the strong and steady beating of his heart. It made him feel secure, to know that Arthur was there, that he was alive and that their love for each other had not been diminished by the last 1,500 years they had spent apart.

When Merlin carefully turned around to look at Arthur’s face his boyfriend woke up and smiled tiredly at him.

“Merlin…”

Merlin pressed a short kiss to his lips. “Rise and shine, love.”

Arthur groaned but couldn’t help laughing. “You know, one thing I really haven’t missed is you waking me up at unreasonable times with this dumb saying.”

“Well, I just hope that there are at least some things that you have missed.” Merlin grinned while running a hand through Arthur’s tousled hair.

“Mh, yes, there are. You bringing me breakfast, for example.”

Merlin rolled his eyes. “I guess it’s about time that you learn how to make breakfast yourself. I’m not your servant anymore. People don’t _have_ servants anymore.”

“Guess there’s much you have to tell me. I have seen quite a lot of things from where I was… but not everything.”

“Sure. But let me make coffee first.” Merlin sat up and crinkled his nose when he looked down at himself. He hadn’t bothered to clean himself up last night, what meant that his thighs, his stomach and his bedsheets were now covered in semen. “And wash myself,” he added. He could change his bedsheets later.

He shuffled over to the bathroom and turned on the shower. Only that when he got in the water was so cold it made him squeal in surprise, what in return caused Arthur to get up and walk over to look that nothing terrible had happened to Merlin.

What he saw surprised him to no end. The room he entered was all white and clean and shiny, with blue towels and a lot of glass and metal things that leaked water. It looked a little like the well back in Camelot where the people from the lower town got their water, but also… very different. And Merlin was standing there, naked and shivering and then the water stopped.

“Shit,” Merlin mumbled. It was just his luck that there was no warm water this morning. “Why isn’t it working?”

Arthur only stared at the metal stick where the stream of water had just disappeared. “What on earth is that, Merlin? Where was that water coming from? Should I help you to wipe it up?”

“What?” Merlin looked confused, but then he remembered that Arthur probably had absolutely no clue about this modern world. “Oh, damn, no, you don’t have to wipe anything up. It’s supposed to do that.”

“Leak water out of the wall?”

“Yeah, it’s a shower. You can wash yourself there. So, the water comes directly to your house, you don’t have to get it at the well.” Merlin sighed and rubbed his eyes. He was still too tired to deal with this now, but he also desperately wanted to wash the dried sweat and semen from his skin.

“You mean, you get the water directly into your house?” Arthur’s face lit up. “That’s why you don’t need servants anymore right?” He didn’t wait for Merlin to answer but stepped forward and touched the handle where Merlin had supposedly turned the water off. “But that’s amazing!” He turned on the water again and Merlin, who was still standing in the shower and dripping wet shrank together.

“No, it’s not. Leave it, Arthur! I just want to have a shower!” He slapped Arthur’s hand away and turned the water off again.

“Then what’s your problem? Just… have it?”

“But the water is cold!”

“Now that’s like you, Merlin! You have this magical well in your house, you don’t even have to bring it in, and what do you do? You complain that it isn’t warm.”

“Yes!” Merlin tucked his hands under his arm pits. Goose pimples covered his skin and his teeth were chattering. “And now move, Arthur, and at least let me get a bloody towel! I’m freezing my ass off!”

Arthur crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I really don’t understand you sometimes, Merlin. When you want warm water, why don’t you just warm it up? By magic? Like you did back in Camelot? Now don’t look so surprised, it’s not like I had never seen you using it.”

Merlin looked at him. “Sometime you really are a genius, Arthur.”

His eyes glowed gold and when he turned on the water this time it was warm. Merlin took a bar of soap and looked at Arthur. “Now what? Are you just going to stand here and watch me? Or… do you want to join me?”


End file.
